Administration to Resume Offering Free At-Home COVID Tests
WASHINGTON — Beginning Monday, Americans will once again be able to order free coronavirus tests from the U.S. government, the Department of Health and Human Services said on Wednesday afternoon.
The Biden administration said it is reviving a program it put on ice in May when the COVID emergency officially ended, and will send up to four tests to individual households that request them.
The public will be able to request them at covidtests.gov.
According to administration officials, the purchases from companies in California, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington state are investments intended to improve preparedness for COVID-19 and other pandemic threats of the future and strengthen the nation’s capacity to manufacture tests.
In all, the department plans to spend about $600 million to buy 200 million tests from a dozen U.S. manufacturers. Combined, the 12 companies involved employ hundreds of workers.
“These critical investments will strengthen our nation’s production levels of domestic at-home COVID-19 rapid tests and help mitigate the spread of the virus,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a written statement.
The announcement comes as COVID hospitalizations continue to slowly rise, though they are nowhere near the numbers seen at the height of the pandemic.
To date, the administration has distributed more than 755 million at-home COVID tests through its partnership with the U.S. Postal Service.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
